CB&Q FT-F2 Set Part 2

-



The EMD F2 was a transition model and introduced the general architecture that carried on through the remainder of F-unit production all the way to the F9 of the mid 1950’s. Offered only for 5 months at the end of 1946, the F2 sported a revised carbody and improvements to the arrangement of internal components compared to the FT. Belt-driven radiator fans and traction motor blowers were replaced with electrically driven ones. The F2 used the same D8 main generator as the FT, which limited power output to the same 1,350hp. Development of a new generator coincided with the beginning of F3 production in December 1946.


The Burlington’s 10 F2As were delivered in July 1946. They were ordered specifically to pair with FTA/B sets to make 3-unit 4050hp locomotives for use on trains where 4-unit sets were overpowered. Since the Burlington considered each set a single locomotive, road numbers were shared across the sets with letter suffixes to distinguish each unit (e.g. 150-A, -B, & -C). 





To my knowledge, no factory painted models of a CB&Q F2 exist. It is possible, however, to make a very accurate and detailed model using a Highliners shell kit. Highliners shells are very cleverly designed to allow an accurate representation of any F unit from F2 through F9. There are modular inserts for each cooling fan, body panel, and dynamic brake variation. I followed the provided instructions to build mine as an F2 with dual headlights and small number boards. I also added handrails, nose grab irons, lift rings, and etched metal grill details.


The chassis came from a donor Proto 1000 F3 that I bought second-hand. In hindsight, another manufacturers’ F-units chassis may have caused less work. The mechanism was smooth and quiet, but some internal projections on the nose of the Highliners shell prevented it from sliding completely over the chassis weight. I used a Dremel tool to grind away a small part of the weight until there was no interference.




I hardwired a Tsunami 2 decoder with sugar cube speaker, same as on the corresponding FT A-unit. The Highliners shell comes with a few varieties of headlight inserts to match any prototype. The Burlington F2s had a single bulb in the lower headlight and red & white pair of bulbs in the upper Mars light. I used grain of rice bulbs, as they fit the inserts better than LEDs.






I painted the shell with the same SCL Hopper Car Beige / Light Gray mixture that I made to touch up the FT details. Decals were straight from a Microscale set. To avoid the difficulty of wrapping the red stripe decals around the number boards, I painted those parts red instead, keeping only the black boarder of the decals.


Finally I put the F2 together with the FT and speed-matched the decoders. The set was now ready for service. 









Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CB&Q M-4a Project Part 1: Planning

-
Image
  I’ve had an LMB CB&Q 2-10-4 in my project backlog for several years.  It’s a brass model from the 1960s and is pretty crude even by 1960s standards.  But it and a nearly identical version imported by Nickel Plate Products are the only options to affordably model one of these signature Burlington engines.  I planned to use it as a base to make a much better looking and running model.   The most serious deficiency of the LMB 2-10-4 is the running gear.  It looks nothing like the prototype.  The M-4a’s had a very distinctive look with a disc center on the main driver and a very heavy counterweight on the 4th axle.  LMB’s model appears to use generic drivers, capturing none of this.  LMB also used Walschaerts valve gear instead of the correct Baker type.  To remedy this, I decided to repower the model using a modern chassis from a Walthers Proto USRA Heavy 2-10-2.  The driver diameter, driver spacing, and cylinder size of the USRA...
Read more

CB&Q NE-10 Waycar Resin Kit

-
Image
 The Burlington’s steam era waycars (cabooses) all had a similar look: wood construction, offset cupola, and 3 or 4 side windows riding on ancient wood beam passenger trucks.  The NE-10 class was notable for being the first class of steel waycars on the Q and looked much like steel versions of the wooden ones.  They were built by the CB&Q's Aurora shops in 1930 and were the newest waycars on the system until the mid 1950's.  By the time of my modeling era (late 1940's) several NE-10's had been equipped with radios and an underslung battery box to power the equipment.   I picked up a resin kit produced by Q Connection to model one of these radio equipped NE-10's.  Walthers has produced very good models of the earlier wood waycars, but the Q Connection kit is the only option outside of brass to model the NE-10.   I've built several resin kits, and the casting quality can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.  This kit was definitely...
Read more

CB&Q Suburban Coaches

-
Image
The Burlington operated extensive commuter service on the “racetrack” out of Chicago Union Station. The volume of trains was one of the reasons three tracks were needed as far west as Aurora. The late 40’s - early 50’s were a time of transition when the Burlington extensively modernized its fleet of suburban equipment. Going into this period, the backbone of the fleet was made up of steel open platform coaches built in the 1920s. In 1949, the Burlington started to rebuild some of these with enclosed vestibules and air conditioning. This program coincided with the purchase of new stainless steel bi-level gallery cars that began arriving in 1950. Some of the former open platform coaches were converted into power cars to supply electricity to the new gallery cars. Lastly, several heavyweight long-distance coaches were also transferred to suburban service. This shuffling of equipment resulted in an interesting variety in suburban service that I wanted to model. This post will focus on the ...
Read more